Osteomyelitis, Peri-Prosthetic Infection (PJI), Septic Arthritis

Biofilm

Bacteria are clever organisms !

They arrived in this world far previous than humans and will surely survive us.

Bacteria are very smart at living in different conditions and are able to adapt and resist in most hostile environments.

However, the most striking discover in the last 30 years is their ability to live in comunities and to protect themselves in a "biofilm" as soon as they adhere on a surface, like, for example, a joint prosthesis or a piece of plastic or even on bone.

When protected by the biofilm, bacteria become more and more resistant to host's immune defence and to antibiotics. This is the reason why chronic infection of implanted biomaterials (joint prosthesis, osteosynthesis, bone cement, etc.) often require the complete removal of the implant to achieve infection cure.

Another approach consists in prevent biofilm formation by coating the implant with antibacterial or antibiofilm agents.

An antibacterial coating would be a simple and effective solution to prevent bacteria colonization of the implanted biomaterials and, finaly, to reduce post-surgical infections.

The Galeazzi Institute in Milano is among the leaders of a European Project, aimed at developing a resorbable, biocompatible antibacterial coating, able to prevent infection of implanted biomaterials in orthopaedcs. To learn more, visit the official website of the IDAC Project.